Going 10-2 and to the Belk Bowl wouldn’t be too shabby.

Entering tonight’s ESPN headliner at Duke, the Tar Heels’ only path to the ACC Championship game in Orlando is to win out and hope Virginia Tech loses at home to either Georgia Tech or Virginia. Their reward for winning the ACC Coastal Division is playing Clemson for the second straight year in the title game. Do we really want to do that again?

Clemson is losing Deshaun Watson and several more of its best players to the NFL after this season. It would not be the worst thing ever if the Tar Heels waited until next year to return to the ACC championship game, which is likely to return to Charlotte if Roy Cooper is the new governor and HB2 is repealed or rendered moot.

Meanwhile, beating Duke, The Citadel and reeling NC State in their last three games, finishing 10-2 and getting a good bowl bid is not a bad alternative. One pundit’s projection has Carolina going to the Belk Bowl, which is still played in Charlotte, and facing Tennessee from the Southeastern Conference. Another has the Heels in what used to be the Gator Bowl to play LSU. They could also slip into the Orange Bowl if Louisville slips up at Houston on November 17.

Last year’s 11-1 regular season was followed by losses to Clemson and Baylor in a bad-taste bowl game. Winning out this season and winning a bowl game would render an 11-2 record and set Carolina up as the ACC favorite in 2017 as long as Mitch Trubisky and Elijah Hood returned for their senior seasons. So missing out on the displaced conference championship game isn’t terrible.

The Tar Heels lost their chance to control their own destiny in the Hurricane against Virginia Tech, which hasn’t lost since and is likely headed to Orlando. Carolina can only do what it can do, which is throttle Duke, pummel The Citadel and perhaps keep State out of a bowl game by beating the Wolfpack the day after Thanksgiving. Then get a chance to finish the season with a big win in a high-profile bowl somewhere. Not the outcome Carolina wanted but, all things considered, not a bad ending at all.